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Which wine with Sichuanese food?
By Ann | February 19, 2008
Eric Asimov has an interesting post on his NYT wine and spirits blog, The Pour, in which he discusses which wine pairs best with Sichuanese cuisine. If you’re a regular reader of Cooking the Books, you’ve probably guessed that I am an ardent fan of Sichuan food. I also like wine. But together? Not so much.
The hallmark of Sichuan cuisine is the careful balance of heat, derived from chilies, and numbing, from Sichuan peppercorns. Also known as huajiao, or prickly ash, the peppercorns have a unique flavor, sort of an initial pine-y scent, followed by a tingling numbingness, and a lingering after-effect that (to my palate, at least) makes everything taste oddly tart. Combine this with wine and you’ve got one hot (tingly) mess.
Asimov sampled four wines with his Sichuan dinner, two whites and two reds. None of them were a good fit. He says he’ll keep trying – perhaps a Chinon, maybe a Beaujolais — but my advice would be to stick to beer. Some foods just aren’t meant to be eaten with wine.
Any oenophiles out there care to weigh in?
Topics: In the news |
February 20th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Have you ever tried a dry Gewurztraminer with it? Claiborne Churchill Wines has one. It might still be overpowered by a really spicy Sichuan dish though … but it’s worth a try.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:44 am
I tried a Yerring Station Pinot Noir from the Yara Valley, in Victoria, Australia, last year at a benefit dinner for the Sichuan earthquake in Beijing, and the match was fantastic. It was with a Sichuanese pork dish. The dish was ma-la (tingling and spicy).. it brought out the fresh fruit of the pinot noir which acted as a fantastic foil to the tingling.. In fact it was a match made in heaven!